Since his defeat at the hands of Conor McGregor, Jose Aldo has fought his way back to the top of the pile in the featherweight division.
The current interim champion, Aldo beat Frankie Edgar at UFC 200 to claim the belt, but has been left in limbo as the UFC has allowed McGregor to take on Nate Diaz in a rematch, and take a shot at claiming the lightweight title from Eddie Alvarez in New York later this month.
Aldo isn't too fond of all that waiting, and recently stated that he wanted to terminate his contract with the UFC:
"I have no desire to fight again. I don’t have any excitement to fight anymore. I have other projects in my life. I wanted to retire as champion and I’m the champion today. I want to follow another path," said Aldo.
Speaking to Brazilian site Combate earlier this week, his manager Dedé Pederneiras backed up that assertion, but is more than aware that the binding contract that they signed with the UFC means it's unlikely he'll be able to get out as soon as he wants.
"Right now we have this Pettis vs. Holloway fight, and there's Conor's decision, too," said Pederneiras. "We can only know what's going to happen after that. Aldo wants to retire in order to do other things, but in these talks we had with the UFC, it became quite clear that they will not let him go to pursue that.
"There's no choice but to fight. It will depend on the outcomes of these two fights. Pettis vs. Holloway and Conor vs. Alvarez. I don't know what Conor will decide, but I believe February or March would be a good date to face him. They are fighting now, so there would be a good three, four month break."
While McGregor has hinted that he would be willing to vacate the featherweight title should he win against Alvarez on November 12th, it seems that Aldo's camp are planning on a rematch.
However, there is another potential spanner in the works on that front also, as McGregor has promised that he has a big announcement to make regarding his future after UFC 205.
Speaking to the Outside the Cage podcast, Dana White intimated that he knows what McGregor has in mind, but that he wasn't going to spill the beans in advance of the fight, possibly because it may encourage a few more pay-per-view buys.
"There are... how can I say this? There are other circumstances involved in this that will be played out after the fight. It's something completely out of left field but it's Conor's business, it's not mine, and I'll let Conor announce it when he's ready to."
Theories on what that announcement will be range from McGregor taking a hiatus from the sport to him aiming for the welterweight title, but the only details the Irishman will give are: "It's always positive with me, so all I'll say is tune in."
Aldo's future appears to be tied to that of McGregor, at least for the moment, making him perhaps a more interested spectator than most when UFC 205 kicks off in Madison Square Garden later this month.
Via MMA Mania
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